Contents

Plot

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At the end of the Seventeenth Century, Spanish noble Don Juan de Maraña (Errol Flynn) is repatriated from London to Madrid after a serious diplomatic scandal caused by his affair with a British fiancée on the eve of her marriage to a Spanish noble. The Spanish ambassador in London, Count de Polan (Robert Warwick), sends a letter of recommendation to his friend, Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) asking her to provide an opportunity at the court to rehabilitate Don Juan after the gossiping and rumors about his multiple illicit love affairs. He is thus hired as instructor in the art of fencing at the Spanish Academy.

He secretly falls in love with Queen Margaret but remains a loyal subject to her and her irresponsible and weak husband, King Phillip III (Romney Brent). Don Juan discovers the treacherous plan of the Machiavellian Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas), who is plotting to depose the monarch, usurp power in Spain and declare war on England. With the support of his friends, Don Juan defends the Queen, the King and the loyal Count de Polan against Duke de Lorca and his henchmen.[1]

Notes

Errol Flynn was well past his prime (and obviously intoxicated in certain scenes). Filming was habitually halted due to Flynn's precarious physical condition and by constant changes and replacements in production personnel. Incidentally, Errol Flynn is doubled in the famous leap from the head of a long staircase by stunt expert Jock Mahoney.[2]

At the end of the film, the young woman in the coach asking Don Juan for directions is Errol Flynn's wife, Nora Eddington.

It is the last of 13 films that Alan Hale appeared in with close friend Errol Flynn. Hale died on 22 January 1950, just over a year following this film's release.